Pioneer Original
Pioneer Original, the Initial Tower is a new Hero 'in BTDI, mainly composing of parts from the 5 first towers of the BTD series ('Dart Monkey, Tack Shooter, Ice Monkey, Bomb Shooter, and Super Monkey). At Level 1, Pioneer Original just throws darts and at times, spreadshots of 3 tacks, as if it were a medium-ranged Dart Monkey mixed with a Druid. To compensate, Pioneer is the fastest upgrading Hero out of all the Heroes, requiring the least XP to upgrade. Pioneer Original costs $680 on Trivial, $720 on Easy, $800 on Medium, $865 on Hard, and $960 on Impoppable. Improvised Lore Because why not? I'm not really good at this anyway, so this is probably the mediocre best I can provide. One of the first Dart Monkeys to ever be bought and placed down in Bloons TD history, Pioneer had always been welcoming to fellow fighters in the BTD1 military against the early bloons. When Boomerang Throwers started cropping up in the battlefields of BTD2, Pioneer's uncertainty for newfangled changes started to develop. Upon the releases of the next two consecutive Bloons TD games, Pioneer's looming anxiety gradually grew as new and unfamiliar towers were introduced to the Monkey Kingdom. This was the least of Pioneer's problems; as new, complex, and dangerous bloons had started to emerge, Pioneer's fear for them did so too. Unwilling to accept change, Pioneer fled from the Monkey Kingdom and went into hiding. Since then, Pioneer has lived in solitude and isolation; how long Pioneer was gone, what Pioneer did, and where Pioneer went was and is currently unknown. Until the release of BTD6, there were no sightings of Pioneer. Some believe that it was during this time that Pioneer built Ai and Cuckoo, likely for company. Sooner or later, Pioneer was forced to retreat from hiding and return to the Monkey Kingdom, for reasons Pioneer has kept secret; it is speculated that Pioneer was driven out by some sort of natural disaster or even a new type of bloon. Forced to reluctantly let go of the simple days of BTD1, Pioneer took refuge in the Monkey Kingdom and fought along with the monkeys against the newer bloon army, leading as a commander of both the original towers and the newer towers. Now an old-timer hero, Pioneer occasionally spends the time to reminisce upon the long-gone days of BTD1, amidst the simpler, more casual times of bloon popping and hypersonic Tack Shooters. Some witnesses have reported of a rare and powerful ability that Pioneer allegedly bears; one that is said to be able to bypass any ability and immunity of any entity and, although less, to be immune to any entity. As Pioneer '''has stuck to the stoic adherence and enforcement of everything BTD1, such manifested capability of sheer nostalgia may be plausible. It is rumored that '''Pioneer, via a very dangerous and unstable science experiment, was the one responsible for bringing life to the Ice Tower and converting it into an Ice Monkey between the events of BTD4 and BTD5. Some theorize that an accident regarding this experiment is the cause for Pioneer's ice-coated arms and ice powers as well as Pioneer's apparent incapability to age, frozen in time but not space. Because of this, fans speculate that Pioneer could possibly be the oldest out of all the Heroes in BTDI (because why not?). Air conditioners do so too, but windmills believe otherwise. Despite this (the speculation that Pioneer is the oldest hero, not the thing about air conditioners), Pioneer has a rather youthful-sounding voice because their entire existence and presumably their age has literally been frozen in time but not in space, due to inexplicable Ice Monkey magic or something like that. Pioneer's '''way of walking somewhat resembles that of a duck. Some find that to be suspiciously reminiscent of a certain character. Not the best way to tell a story, but who cares? Appearance '''Pioneer has the appearance of a Dart Monkey with a tattered shirt and a red cape bound around their neck, with Super Monkey's respective blue and red palette. Pioneer also has a cap modeled as the top of a Tack Shooter as well as a Bomb Shooter strapped to their back. They have the arms of an Ice Monkey '''and their left eye has been replaced with a '''Tack Shooter barrel. Music Levels Level 1 - Throws darts like a Dart Monkey. Has a chance to throw tacks, which have more pierce than darts. 3 tacks are thrown at a time, akin to Dart Monkey's Triple Darts. Level 2 - Increased chance to throw tacks. Tacks have increased pierce. Level 3 - Immunity Bypass Ability: Pioneer and two other random towers in range can pop 3 more layers of bloon, and all towers on screen can affect any type of bloon for 5 seconds. Level 4 - Faster attack speed. Level 5 - Detects camo. Slightly increased range. Level 6 - Has a chance to throw ice pellets, which can freeze and pop bloons. Level 7 - Increased ice pellet freezing duration. Level 8 - Has a chance to throw bombs, which explode. Level 9 - Bombs have bigger explosions. Level 10 - Originalize Ability: Do 50 damage to any bloon that wasn't in BTD1. (in other words, any bloon that isn't Red Bloon, Blue Bloon, Green Bloon, Yellow Bloon, Black Bloon, or White Bloon) Level 11 - Replaces ice pellets with ice-tipped darts, which freeze and pierce through bloons. Can pop White Bloons. Level 12 - Tacks are heated into Hot Shot Tacks, searing through Lead and frozen bloons. Level 13 - Replaces bombs with explosion-laced darts, which somehow explode on their last pop. Can pop Black Bloons. Regular darts are not thrown anymore. Level 14 - All attacks from Pioneer pop 1 more layer of bloon. Tack spreadshot count is increased from 3 tacks to 7 tacks. Level 15 - Immunity Bypass Ability has reduced cooldown, pops 5 layers, and duration is increased to 20 seconds. Level 16 - Has a chance to swiftly shoot a stream of 25 high-pierce darts, akin to Super Monkey. Level 17 - Ice-tipped darts freeze a group of bloons upon making contact with a bloon. Level 18 - Originalize Ability has reduced cooldown and does 200 damage against M.O.A.B-Class Bloons. Level 19 - Explosion-laced darts do 20x damage against M.O.A.B-Class Bloons. Level 20 - Originalize Ability does 500 damage against M.O.A.B-Class Bloons. Levels 21-25 (TOTMGsRock's BTD7PotA) Level 21 - Pioneer now always fires like a Super Monkey. Chance to fire plasma blasts. Level 22 - Increases range by 60%. Bloons around Pioneer Original's radius slow down by 50%, like an Arctic Wind Ice Monkey. Level 23 - Tacks are replaced by an omnidirectional spread of flame like an Inferno Ring. Explosive darts are replaced by Bloontonium-laced MOAB Assassin missiles that do 40x damage to MOAB-Class Bloons and hurt all types of bloon. Ice-tipped darts split into dozens of ice shards at the end of their lifespan. Level 24 - Plasma blasts are replaced by the purple shurikens of death from the Myth of the Shadows (2/2/6 Super Monkey) and now fires them all the time in conjunction with their other attacks. Level 25 - Pioneer becomes the insurmountable paragon of unbound originality. Originalize ability inflicts 40,000 damage to any Bloon that wasn't in BTD1. Immunity Bypass makes all Bloons take 250% damage from all sources for 15 seconds. All attacks from Pioneer Original inflict 9x damage. In-Game Quotes Pioneer Original's '''personality is acutely sarcastic, indifferent, or otherwise random at times, and '''Pioneer themselves is usually insubordinate or unaware of current events. Due to this, some hypothesize that Pioneer's sporadic, nonsensical, and somewhat inattentive behavior is likely caused by lengthy isolation from monkey society. Pioneer '''had supposedly existed and fought against the bloons during the early events of BTD1, having isolated themselves since and therefore not having any knowledge or recognition of anything after the events BTD1. Upon placing on the map: * "Yay." * "Meh." * "(silence)" * "Greetings, comrade! Let us rise to victor... (quieter) aha ha ha... (trails off)" * "I've got lots of things I'd like to do today. *This* is not one of them." When selected: * "Ouch." * "(unenthusiastic) Aaaah." **cough* **sneeze* **clears throat* *"Yes, master! At your service... (trails off)" * "Hmm?" * "Yesh?" **sniff* **sigh* When leveling up: * "Darts." * "Tacks." * "Ice." * "Bombs." * "Huh?" **slowly exhales* * "Woo hoo." * "Congrats, companion! Ahhhh... (trails off)" * "What? I wasn't looking." * *wheeze* * "Sabotage time!" * "Look! A cat on the ceiling!" - Level 10 * "Ahahahaha." - Level 15 * "Great! Now go outside for once!" - Level 20 * "(maniacally) AHAHAHAHA-*cough*" - Level 25 When M.O.A.B.-Class Bloons appear: * "That's no ordinary Blue Bloon." -M.O.A.B. appearance * "This giant Red Bloon should be easy, right? -B.F.B. appearance * "Green Bloons are getting big these days." -Z.O.M.G. appearance * "What? I don't see anything!" -D.D.T. appearance, if below Level 5 * "There's a big fast Black Bloon approaching!" -D.D.T. appearance, if Level 5 or higher * "Whoever heard of a big Purple Bloon?" -B.A.D. appearance * "Looks like the Red Bloons, Blue Bloons, and Green Bloons have all teamed up." -E.V.I.L. appearance When popping a M.O.A.B.-Class Bloon: * "What was that?" * "Bloons sure let themselves go these days." * "Pop!" When using an ability: * "What immunities?" -Immunity Bypass * "Happy birthday!" -Immunity Bypass * "There must be only 6 colors of bloon." -Originalize * "Burn the witch!" -Originalize When placed next to a BTD1 tower (ie. Dart Monkey, Tack Shooter, Ice Monkey, Bomb Shooter, or Super Monkey): * "Greetings, comrade!" When placed next to a non-BTD1 monkey and there are no other BTD1 towers nearby: * "WHO ARE YOU!?" When placed next to a non-BTD1 non-monkey tower and there are no other BTD1 towers nearby: * "WHAT IS THAT!?" When placed next to another hero: * "Hmmm... (glaring intently)" When placed next to an '''Overdrive Tack Shooter: * "Hey, look! A hypersonic Tack Shooter!" When a bloon leaks: * "Ack!" * "Oopsies!" * "Oh noes." * "Sticky notes!" * "Uh ohs." * *laughs both sarcastically and confusedly* "Hah-haha-haHAhaa..." When the game is lost: * "Game-*cough*-over! W-would you like to-*cough*-try again or-*cough*-play more g-games in-*cough*-Bloonsworld?...(collapses)" Trivia * Pioneer's unawareness of M.O.A.B.-Class Bloons and Purple Bloon is a reference to there being no M.O.A.B.-Class Bloons or Purple Bloons in BTD1. ** This is further represented by Pioneer's acquaintanceship towards BTD1 towers and unfamiliarity with non-BTD1 towers and heroes. ** The hypersonic Tack Shooter glitch is also mentioned in the form of Pioneer reacting to an Overdrive Tack Shooter. * Bloons popped by Pioneer '''make the old bloon popping sound from BTD1. * '''Pioneer's ice attacks make the sound of the Ice Tower in BTD1, Pioneer's explosive attacks make the sound of the Bomb Shooter in BTD1, etc. * Pioneer's actual gender remains unknown, partially because Pioneer prefers to have that information remain classified and partially because of a certain someone who keeps destroying birth certificates. A similar case goes for Pioneer's real name. * Pioneer's old picture: Category:Heroes Category:Shiverpeace's Conceptions